Elizabeth School District’s new vaping prevention education coordinator, Maegan Winegar, has been holding a series of parent meetings to help inform about the risks and prevalence of vaping. The first parent meeting was held on Jan. 27 at Elizabeth Middle School.
E-cigarettes, or vapes, typically contain water, chemical flavoring, nicotine or cannabis, propylene glycol, and vegetable glycerin and can’t be legally purchased or used by people who haven’t reached adulthood. In nicotine vapes, though the amount of nicotine in products varies, they’re extremely addictive because the vapor is quickly absorbed through blood vessels and nicotine can reach the brain in as few as 10 seconds.
Vaping is a problem within the Elizabeth School District, as it is with young people across the country. In 2019, agencies declared vaping an epidemic among youth. Between 2017 and 2018, e-cigarette use among youth skyrocketed at a rate of epidemic proportions.
Elizabeth High School student Camden Ross was present at the Jan. 27 meeting to help Winegar and lend a student perspective. Ross is part of SWAT, Students Working Against Tobacco. She said despite teachers monitoring bathrooms, groups of students still sometimes pile into school bathrooms to vape. Ross feels like it’s not fair to other students who just want to use the restroom.
EHS Principal Bret McClendon said, “While we don’t have any statistics, vaping is prevalent in the building. Students seem to think they [vapes] are safe, and because they don’t have a distinct odor like cigarettes, they are difficult to detect.” Though EHS has made strides to discourage vaping, Winegar hopes that through education and policy changes, she can make even greater progress.
Across the nation, vaping is not just a high school problem — students all the way down to the elementary school level are being exposed to vaping and experimenting with vapes. Winegar said there have been reports in other school districts of kindergartners bringing vapes to school and kids as young as third grade vaping.
Part of the issue is that companies market to children, and social media influencers make vaping look fun. Kids are bombarded with vaping videos and encouraged to try various challenges and do tricks with vapes.
Most teens also think that vaping is harmless. Data is still being gathered on the long-term negative health impacts, but it is widely accepted that vaping does have serious health consequences, is highly addictive, and is largely unregulated.
The National Institutes for Health (NIH) said vaping can lead to impaired blood vessel function and increased risk for heart disease. The American Heart Association said vaping has been associated with an increased risk for respiratory diseases as well as a condition specifically related to e-cigarette use, called EVALI — short for e-cigarette or vaping product use-associated lung injury, which can lead to hospitalization or even death. Diacetyl, the chemical that causes popcorn lung, is found in many e-cigarette flavors.
Winegar says the Food and Drug Administration isn’t able to keep up with new vape manufacturing regulations and companies, which creates a lack of consistency. Companies are basically able to label and sell whatever they want unchecked, she said. The FDA has denied permission to market some e-cigarette products and has ramped up enforcement efforts, but many of the most popular e-cigarettes among youth remain on the market.
Winegar’s future goals include having students create an online resource hub, letting SWAT lead Red Ribbon Week initiatives, and researching options for a podcast. She’s also working on working with EMS and EHS health teachers on adding preventative content, developing programming for fourth and fifth grade and developing partnerships with the community.
Winegar, an Elbert resident, has a master’s degree in professional counseling and is working toward her Ph.D. in professional organizational psychology. Her position was funded as a result of a settlement between Colorado and e-cigarette manufacturer JUUL, alleging that it targeted youth with deceptive marketing and played down the health risks of vaping.
Winegar recently sent out a parent survey about vaping which received 224 responses. The survey results are accessible at tinyurl.com/esd-vape.
ESD Public Information Officer Jeff Maher spoke with Winegar last fall. The interview is available on YouTube at youtube.com/watch?v=35X-w6CoSqk.
Upcoming vape education meetings are scheduled for March 4 at 6 p.m. in Elizabeth High School and April 3 at 6 p.m. in Singing Hills Elementary.
The CDC has a helpful Vaping Products Visual Dictionary available online at tinyurl.com/5897jy7r.
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